JTR Enterprises, LLC v. An Unknown Quantity of Colombian Emeralds, Amethysts & Quartz Crystals

297 F.R.D. 522, 2013 WL 6570941, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177852
District Court, S.D. Florida·Decided December 10, 2013·No. No. 11-10074-CIV·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

OMNIBUS ORDER ON DISCOVERY MOTIONS1

EDWIN G. TORRES, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court on various discovery motions that are ripe for disposition. The Court has reviewed the motions, the responses, the parties’ various other submissions, and the relevant authority. Based upon a thorough review of the record, the Court’s rulings follow.

A. Motivation, Inc.’s Motion to Compel Production of Documents Sought by Subpoena and Testimony Despite Claims of Attorney-Client and Work-Product Privileges Due to the Crime Fraud Exception to the Privileges [D.E. 259]

On August 8, 2013, this Court entered an Order [D.E. 261] denying Motivation, Inc.’s (“Motivation”) Motion to Compel Production of Documents Sought by Subpoena and Testimony Despite Claims of Attorney-Client and Work-Product Privileges Due to the Crime Fraud Exception to the Privileges [D.E. 259] on the grounds that the discovery cutoff had passed and the motion was untimely. Then, on August 19, 2013, the Court entered an Order which, among other things, reopened discovery in this case. [D.E. 268]. On October 24, 2013, this Court entered an Order advising the parties that it would revisit Motivation’s motion to compel and resolve the matter on its merits. [D.E. 293]. Following that Order, JTR Enterprises, LLC (“JTR”) and its former and current counsel filed responses and affidavits in opposition to the motion. [D.E. 297, 298, 299, 302],

Motivation’s motion seeks to compel production of documents from several nonparties. First, the motion seeks to compel documents from Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP (“YCST”), a Delaware-based law firm, based on a subpoena for production that was dated February 22, 2013 [D.E. 259-4], and Bruce Silverstein (“Silverstein”), a partner at YCST and a member of and general counsel to JTR. [D.E. 259 at p. 2]. The subpoena was issued by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Upon receipt, YCST sent a letter to Motivation’s counsel stating various objections to the subpoena and indicating that YCST would not be producing documents by the date requested in the subpoena. Although YCST’s letter refers to two subpoenas (one issued to YCST and another issued to Silver-stein), only the subpoena issued to YCST is attached to Motivation’s motion.

As a threshold issue, this Court lacks jurisdiction to enforce the subpoenas issued to YCST and Silverstein out of the District Court in Delaware. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(2)(B) states:

A person commanded to produce documents or tangible things ... may serve on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena a written objection____ If an objection is made, the following rules apply:
(1) At any time, on notice to the commanded person, the serving party may move the court for the district where compliance is required for an order compelling production or inspection.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(d)(2)(B). Moreover, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(2) states that “[a] motion for an order to a nonparty must be made in the court where the discovery is or will be taken.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(2).

Together, Rules 45(d)(2)(B) and 37(a)(2) direct that motions to compel compliance with subpoenas for production from non-parties must be filed with the issuing court. In other words, the court issuing a subpoena is responsible for its enforcement and has exclusive jurisdiction to rule on a subpoena issued in that court’s name. See Matter of Certain Complaints Under Inves[526]*526tigation, 783 F.2d 1488, 1495 (11th Cir.1986) (“The subpoena is enforceable in the court which issued it----”); Chick-fil-A v. Exxon-Mobil, No. 08-61422-CIV, 2009 WL 2242392, at *1 (S.D.Fla. July 24, 2009) (the court denied a motion to quash a subpoena issued out of the Northern District of Georgia because it “[did] not have the authority to decide the instant motion”); Great Am. Ins. Co. v. Gen. Contractors & Constr. Mgmt., Inc., No. 07-21489-CIV, 2008 WL 4372884, at *1 (S.D.Fla. Sept. 24, 2008) (denying a motion to compel compliance with a subpoena issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York because “this Court does not have jurisdiction to enforce the subpoena issued by the [other district court]” and noting that “[t]he Advisory Committee note to the 1991 amendment to Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(a)(2) states that the court in whose name the subpoena issued is responsible for its enforcement”); Rivertree Landing, LLC v. Murphy, No. 6:07-mc-104-GAP-DAB, 2007 WL 3333357, at *1 (M.D.Fla. Nov. 9, 2007) (“[T]his Court has no jurisdiction over any subpoena not issued by this Court____”). Thus, Motivation’s motion to compel as to the subpoenas issued to YCST and Silverstein is DENIED without prejudice with leave to renew in the proper forum.

Motivation’s motion also seeks to compel JTR’s former counsel, David Paul Horan (“Horan”), who served as counsel for JTR from approximately March 15, 2011 through October 10, 2012 [D.E. 141], to produce documents in response to Motivation’s subpoena for production of documents served on Horan. [D.E. 259-1]. The subpoena is dated February 6, 2013 and was issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Thus, unlike the subpoenas issued to YCST and Silverstein, this Court has jurisdiction over the subpoena issued to Horan.

In response to the subpoena, Horan provided two privilege logs, stating that certain documents are “being withheld as privileged or subject to protection as work product” and “without a waiver by our former client [JTR] or an order of court these documents will not produced.” [D.E. 259-2, 259-3]. The first privilege logs lists 95 emails from October 18, 2011 to December 28, 2012. [D.E. 259-2], The second privilege log lists 20 emails from December 19, 2011 to January 25, 2013. [D.E. 259-3].2

Motivation alleges that the documents sought from Horan are relevant to the upcoming hearing on its Motion for Sanctions [D.E. 123], Specifically, Motivation argues that the attorney-client and work-product privileges do not shield the production of documents “because preceding and throughout the pendency of this ease, JTR and its founders have been and are engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud investors and consumers. In fact, JTR’s filing of this admiralty case, verified by Jay Miscovich [(“Miscovich”)], was part of its criminal scheme to fabricate a treasure find and is a fraud upon the court.” [D.E. 259 at p. 2], Therefore, Motivation contends, the crime-fraud exception vitiates any claimed privilege and required production of the withheld documents. [Id.\

“The attorney-client privilege does not protect communications made in furtherance of a crime or fraud.” In re Grand Jury Investigation (Schroeder), 842 F.2d 1223, 1226 (11th Cir.1987).

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JTR Enterprises, LLC v. An Unknown Quantity of Colombian Emeralds, Amethysts & Quartz Crystals, 297 F.R.D. 522, 2013 WL 6570941, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177852 (S.D. Fla. 2013).

297 F.R.D. 522 (JTR Enterprises, LLC v. An Unknown Quantity of Colombian Emeralds, Amethysts & Quartz Crystals) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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